"and on the 7th day, they rested"... Sort of. We did over 11 miles today, but they were mostly snow-free. Ended at red's meadow resort. Their showers that are open to hikers were out of order... Boo... Oh well. Ate cheese burgers and rootbeer floats at the diner and bought some beers from the store. Thought about springing for a room to get a shower and a real bed, but there was no room at the inn. Then, I think this is what they call trail magic? The owner overheard me telling Taru that we were out of luck, and it turned out that someone had just checked out a day early and we could have the room! Sweet! Shower + beer + real food + bed = happy Jesse! We also met a couple of cool hikers: one dude from Norway was also doing the JMT. We had a beer with him and traded stories he was putting us to shame. He started 3 days after us and was averaging over 15 miles a day. I guess that shows that snow or no, the JMT can be done.

FYI: the store @ reds is basically like a sparsely stocked 711. They have snacks, toiletries, beer, and some dehydrated backpacker food. They dont have any isobutane canisters though, so unless your stove runs on the giant Coleman propane canisters or sterno, you're out of luck.

The John Muir Trail passes through a land of 13,000 and 14,000 foot peaks, of lakes in the thousands, and of canyons and granite cliffs. It's also a land blessed with the mildest, sunniest climate of any major mountain range in the world. The John Muir Trail is 211 miles long and runs (mostly in conjunction with the PCT) from Yosemite Valley to Mt Whitney, in California.